I just got my Pearl Saturday. I have had to charge it everyday. I am a first time BB user so I really don't use all the features it has. I have sent the occassional email and used the browser a few times, but other than that just used the phone as a phone and I feel like the battery should have more life than this! Should I take it back to the store? Since I have never had a BB I just wondered if this was normal. I am used to my Moto that held a charge for 4 - 5 days.

I just got my Pearl Saturday. I have had to charge it everyday. I am a first time BB user so I really don't use all the features it has. I have sent the occassional email and used the browser a few times, but other than that just used the phone as a phone and I feel like the battery should have more life than this! Should I take it back to the store? Since I have never had a BB I just wondered if this was normal. I am used to my Moto that held a charge for 4 - 5 days.

I use my Pearl quite a lot. sometimes 30-40 calls a day (in/out) & email 20-30 (in/out) & usually it still has 20-30% charge left at night.

I have read all the posts from the other link. Most of them are not using the pearl. Do all the BB's have the same battery? Another question. someone in that post mentioned to upgrade to the latest OS. Is there somewhere in my menu I can find what OS I have so I know if I need to upgrade? I am all new to this BB world so I need all the advice you can throw at me!

Back to the battery though. Does it hurt it to charge it all the time, even it not run down. Also, is the wall charger vs the USB charger better/worse for it??

The biggest battery drain is programs, not closed, running in the background. Press ALT and ESCAPE to scroll through the programs running on your BB. You will always have the home screen, phone, browser, messages and BB Messenger if you have that loaded. Games and browser pages that are actively updating can run down your battery, close or exit out of them. Pressing the red END key does not close an app. Click to the menu in the app and choose close or exit.

Topping off your charge does not hurt. However since your BB is relatively new, try letting it drain 3-4 times in a row to about 15% charge, and letting it charge fully to 100%.

Well when I it alt and escape something pops up on my screen for a split second but not long enough for me to see what it is. so I don't know what is running. I will remember to close things as I use them though! I just got back from lunch and my store swapped batteries out for me, so I will see how this one does. Maybe I will just have to adjust and realize I need to charge everynight. Just another learning curve. Other than the battery I am really happy with my phone. I am glad I went with it!
Thanks for all your help

AH, got it! I don't have anything besides the things you listed showing. At least I know something wasn't running and draining it down! I am really interested to see how this new battery works because I have had it about 1 1/2 hours and the status bar has not moved. With my old one I would have lost some of it by now! Maybe just had a bad one! Thanks again for all your advice! This board is great for new users! From reading some of the threads, I don't think I know the whole scope of what this phone can actually do! I was happy when I got a camera on my last phone 2 years ago!

I have a question. What is the issue with charging the phone everyday? Do you find yourself in situations where you dont have access to a power outlet when you sleep? Is it not possible to charge your BB when you sleep or when you have a moment to spare?

Seems like more and more people want their BB's to last for a week without charging. Lets get real here

Hey Corey, her issue was that she just bought the 8100, and it seemed to drain the battery immediately. If it were a few weeks old, a month, I would expect that. But a brand new one should hold a decent charge right off the bat with low to moderate use.

I don't have an issue when I am home. That is fine, I just have not had to do it in the past so I will have to remember to take it out and put it on the charger before I go to bed. Like I said, just a learning curve. However, I also would like for the battery to last at least a couple of days so if I am out of town or something and forget my charger I am not out of a phone. I do have a car charger, but that is in my car and if we travel we are usually in my husbands truck, so that is why I am so concerned. Like I said, I do not have a problem charging, I just have a problem reminding myself to do it!

I have a charger in my truck, another in my 2nd truck, one in my briefcase, one plugged in at home, one at the office, and my wife has own her personal stash of chargers. After 5-6 Blackberrys, we have enough chargers to go around.

I just got my Pearl Saturday. I have had to charge it everyday. I am used to my Moto that held a charge for 4 - 5 days.

Actually she said this ^^^

I dont care. I have seen so many posts that state " OMG my BB only lasts 3 days. WTF?! I thought blackberrys were supposed to be better with battery life than that."

Here's the deal. While BB's are great and they help you out, more and more features and better screens and more bells and whistles are going to run the phone down quicker. If it lasts less than a day with moderate or low usage, then you got a problem. But having to charge the phone everyday. You should charge it like that anyways.

Also, Keep in mind that phone calls drain more battery than using a bb for data only. The constant connection over the phone when on a call can drain the battery quick. However, once data is received, thats it. Its there. No having to stay connected in a constant download to read the email or read a web page.

I don't have an issue when I am home. That is fine, I just have not had to do it in the past so I will have to remember to take it out and put it on the charger before I go to bed. Like I said, just a learning curve. However, I also would like for the battery to last at least a couple of days so if I am out of town or something and forget my charger I am not out of a phone. I do have a car charger, but that is in my car and if we travel we are usually in my husbands truck, so that is why I am so concerned. Like I said, I do not have a problem charging, I just have a problem reminding myself to do it!

I suggest a red string around the finger. Lol. Thats how i remember important things.

I did not say all of that! I was just surprised! I realize that the phone does a lot more but I expected the battery to last longer. For instance, yesterday, I charged the phone in full here at work. Took off charger around 9:30 in the moring. I made a few phone calls on the phone yesterday. I would say less than 10, and none of them very long calls. Used browser about 5 minutes just playing around with it and received maybe 2 emails. By 10:00 that evening the battery was red on my screen. That is my problem! I thought the battery should last longer than that! Am I wrong for feeling that way?

3 hours later and still no movement from the battery status bar. I really think I had faulty equipment, but never having a BB before I wasn't sure if it was normal! My old battery you could almost watch it move. Well maybe that is a bit of an exaggeration, but it would have moved some by now, probably have been at least 1/4 if not 1/2 of the way down from when I took it off the charger at around 11 this morning.

3 hours later and still no movement from the battery status bar. I really think I had faulty equipment, but never having a BB before I wasn't sure if it was normal! My old battery you could almost watch it move. Well maybe that is a bit of an exaggeration, but it would have moved some by now, probably have been at least 1/4 if not 1/2 of the way down from when I took it off the charger at around 11 this morning.

It definately sounds like you had a faulty battery. It won't last for a week with normal use but it shouldn't cut out like it did for you as you were not using it excessively. I usually charge mine once a day which is fine with me. I have a home and a car charger so I'm never too far from juice. As others said, the newest phones are pretty advanced and use battery a lot quicker. Until batteries advance, we will have to stay close to an outlet.

This is strange. My battery would last me 2-3 days, then suddenly the last two days my battery would drop to 50% over half a day with virtually no usage! I've checked for apps running in the background ... nothing. I have not changed anything on my BB in the last while, so what's the deal?